Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

With Enemies Like These

A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by Ben Macintyre

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I don’t think there’s much of a distinction between this and Ben Macintyre’s other works: it’s well researched, narratively streamlined, and occasionally thrilling. But this feels like his best book by far. And I don’t have much in the way of justification for saying that aside from how deeply personal it feels like Kim Philby’s betrayal still feels to him and the English. I say “the English” specifically because while MI-6 technically serves the United Kingdom, this is very much an English story. A story […]

Have Seen the Enemy

Smiley's People by John Le Carré

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Of the many things that can be said about John Le Carré’s George Smiley series — and there is a lot to be said — the overarching lesson is how you can never really “win” at espionage. Oh sure, you can occasionally foil the enemy, maybe draw some large gains or uncover revelations. Espionage helps win war when an actual war is going on. But when war is fought in the shadows — and the Cold War most certainly was — one’s never going to […]

This One’s A Thriller

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben MacIntyre

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First of all: RIP Oleg Gordievsky. I picked this up unaware he died earlier in March. Or maybe I had heard it and my subconscious urged me to read it. Either way, hope he rests in peace. Yeah the “reads like a thriller” tag is accurate here. I really do need to read more Ben MacIntyre. I’ve tried with MacIntyre before and while his books are good, I need to be in a specific headspace to read non-fiction and stuff kept getting in the way. […]

August 2022 Leftovers

Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood by Jane Leavy

Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner

The Stranger by Albert Camus

The Man Who Liked to Look at Himself by K.C. Constantine

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris

Inside the Empire: The True Power Behind the New York Yankees by Bob Klapisch and Pete Solotaroff

Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child

Finley Ball: How Two Outsiders Turned the Oakland As into a Dynasty and Changed Baseball Forever by Nancy Finley

Sea Change by Robert B. Parker

The Hunting Wives by May Cobb

The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay

Ms. Tree, Volume 1 by Max Alan Collins

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Some extra books I read in August. What a miserably hot month… Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood**** Less a conventional biopic on The Mick and more a look at his life vis-a-vis his legend and the backdrop of postwar America. Not as thorough as I would’ve liked but still riveting given how Jane Leavy presents her subject.   Greenwich Park*** Again glad I slept on my review. I really liked how this started but after a while, it morphed into […]

There is beauty to be found in the melting snow and McDonalds wrappers

Little Foxes Took Up Matches by Katya Kazbek

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Mitya is not good at math, as you can see. But he’s good at imagination. Mitya is utterly convinced that no one has ever looked at two halves long enough, or attentively enough. Mitya has some stories for you. Much like Mitya himself, this novel contains multitudes. Katya Kazbek, who often works as a translator, holds the door open for the curious reader with snippets of fairy tales. Sometimes these tales are her takes on mythology, and sometimes they are the mythology of being a […]

She apes Julia Child in her title, but this is a memoir, not a cookbook. #CBRBingo – How To

Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya von Bremzen

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I feel bad about only giving this one three stars, but I think it accurately reflects my reading experience. I had to read this by e-book, and that just isn’t a format that works perfectly for me, except for when I’m reading romance or fanfic. I had a hard time focusing on it. When I was able to focus, it was clear that von Bremzen was a good writer, with things to say. She writes about food, and her experiences around, so very well. This […]



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